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Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Monday, November 25, 2013

I decided that today would be the day that I chose this blog over murderous zombies.

An easy-sounding decision, perhaps, but harder in reality for me and my...personality type. Which, in all truthfulness, has a tendency to obsess over whatever it is I've made my mind up to obsess over at the moment. Right now, it's bad television. A few weeks ago it was English history. The list goes on and on, all the way back the OJ Simpson trials in high school when I JUST HAD TO KNOW ALL THE FACTS.

The last time I posted here I was tan, so that tells you how long it's been. (Oh, St. Thomas!)

There are so many things that have happened since then. I remember feeling like the moment we stepped off the plane was the moment we were making major life decisions daily. And I'm prone to hyperbole but really..."where should I work?", "where should we live?", "where should we live after this whole law school thing is over?".

But one of my favorite things about my marriage is the fact that Tyler and I are absolute pros at wingin' it, and as everyone does, we took it day by day. We found the spaciest most beautiful one bedroom near his school, and I began working again. Tyler started his semester and applied for graduation in May. I thought long and hard about what I'm going to do when I won't have to be the sugar-mama of this household anymore. I'm still thinking, really. I wrote a song about turning into a mermaid in the VI. We had friends come to visit and then family shortly afterwards. I watched a documentary that left me speechless and sobbing and in love with soul music: Charles Bradley, the Soul of America. We met our new ward (church congregation) and my little brother got a mission call to serve in the Philippines! We learned to live without a microwave, Shuggie turned 2, and my last few weeks were spent plotting my handsome's 30th birthday.

I wondered if returning back to normal life--after being removed from it all for a while--might be so hard for us. Before we left I was definitely feeling like I was ready for some changes, and Tyler's well had run pretty dry with love for law school. But I vowed to give myself a better balance upon returning, of working because it puts food on our table and working because it feeds some other part of myself. Tyler vowed to make time to write, and be a little more of a normal person. (He was LIVING in the library for a while there.)

Luckily, the company I was with (and am currently still with, part-time) is incredible, and allowed me to rework my schedule to incorporate room for another "fun" job.

And the balance has proven to be good. Really good. I don't quite know why it took a hiatus to the VI to come to conclusions. I think sometimes a step away can help you see your situation with greater clarity, and we were a few steps and a swim away.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

These are the last of our island photos! I'm a lot behind on posting, and since these were all taken we've traveled to Colorado and Utah (where we are now). We decided to end our St. Thomas adventure a little early so we had time to reset and spend some much-needed time with family and friends in the mountains. Tyler and I had really been missing our people! Hope your week has been filled with family and the pretty outdoors. Photos above taken at Coral World on St. Thomas/our beach.

Friday, July 5, 2013

1)Always greet locals with "good morning/afternoon/evening" before you say absolutely anything else. Should you forget this and ask someone working in the department store where the tweezers are...you will be ignored. Then, after you repeat yourself (because surely she must not have heard you) the tweezers will just be thrown at you with no apology.

2)Do not be alarmed when you're swinging in your hammock and a loud thud echos a few feet away. It's just a giant iguana. Falling from the palm tree.

3)When your husband tells you that iguanas are friendly what he really means is they're kind of friendly. Get too close and they will swat you with their creepy/enormous tail.

4)The kids here daydream about "Alaska" and "Florida" the way we daydream about this place. It's so funny. When I asked our two little friends (featured above) where they want to live when they grow up, they both told me they couldn't wait to "get out of here and get to the states"!

5)Everyone sings at the top of their lungs, no matter the location. So....whether they're ringing you up at the grocery story, in the car with you, or sitting next to you at the restaurant. They're going for it, if their jam is on.

6)"Complimentary punch" is actually not punch. Even though they just gave it to that 10 year-old.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

I can't decide if I want to tell you about the fact that I now share a house with a gecko we named Frank David (in honor of a very nice elderly man who asked us to live with him on the plane ride here),or if I want to talk about the fact that my face hasn't touched a make-up brush or product since we arrived (something my skin is very happy about).

But telling those stories would mean I wouldn't get to share the list of random but crazy facts I've been mentally stashing like "a box of cereal on the island is eleven dollars" or "sunscreen is twenty four dollars on sale".

My parents might want to hear about showering and cooking with cistern water, if the story about the cockroach in our bed wasn't so good.

Our daily routine might be funny to read about in the long run (we begin each morning with an episode of "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air"), but if I'm going for laughs, I should definitely tell you about the weapon Tyler uses to hunt mosquitoes--along with his full metamorphosis into "Tyler the Mosquito Murderer".

What might be best--and easiest-- is just to say that I am loving this trip, every unexpected curve-ball and moment. (Cockroach encounter exempt from that statement. I hated that.) This place has already become so special to me, and I will be one sad gecko-lover when it's all over. (p.s. Perhaps I should note that the accompanying photos for this post aren't relevant, just snapshots I've been saving up! xx)

When Tyler asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I told him I'd truly be happy with one thing: watermelon. So the morning of my birthday I awoke to breakfast, presents, balloons and a twenty-one pound watermelon in the fridge.

I was so happy. Especially because one of my unexpected presents was snorkeling gear, and floating in the ocean is a lot more fun when you have the option to submerge yourself and see everything from beneath the surface.

After opening presents we took a drive to Magen's point, which overlooks Magen's beach (the most popular beach on the island) and snapped a few photos. It really was beautiful, but Tyler and I agreed that our little backyard beach is still our favorite. (If I've realized anything since being here, it's how lucky we were to have found the rental house that we did. Our location is perfect.)

Later that evening Tyler made me dinner and then we ate some ice-cream to celebrate.

It was the simplest and happiest birthday. Here's to hoping 24 is filled with new adventure! I'm excited for whatever is in store.

Friday, June 21, 2013

1)A seashell found on the seashore. 2) A flower crown to wear to the beach. 3)The water here! So blue and so warm. 4)Frenchman's Bay (where we live). 5) A sea urchin up close! 6) Our backyard, otherwise known as Bluebeard's Beach Club (a resort). A very nice surprise. 7)Being outside at dusk is a whole different experience here. I love it so much.

Friday, June 7, 2013

Happy Friday! I wanted to take a quick minute to let you know that my future sister-in-law and talented friend is having a big sale over at her online clothing boutique, Vanity Cole! If you like pretty things and need a few more pieces to add to your summer wardrobe, be sure to check it out! There's even a "Marlee Top"--deemed Tyler's personal favorite even before seeing the name--that is just right for basically any occasion. And even though you didn't ask, a my of my other favorites are the "Mia Shorts" and the "Chelsea Dress", because I'm a sucker for bold prints. To visit her site, just click here!

Thursday, June 6, 2013

A few weeks ago I found myself online apartment/house hunting, because our lease was about to expire and not to anyone's surprise, we had no idea where we were going to move. Closer to the school? Into the city, maybe? It was a long night on Craigslist, and if you know anything about renting in the bay, you know that the cost of even the tiniest apartment is sheer craziness. So kind of on a whim I started looking into moving somewhere else for the summer. Just the summer, because Tyler still has another year left of law school, and truly we do love the bay.

Next thing I knew, I was looking for homes for rent in the Virgin Islands, because we've never been and even the prettiest places were cheaper than what pay monthly to live in California. And when I text Tyler and said "wanna move to the Virgin Islands?" instead of making me feel crazy, he told me he was in if that's what I wanted.

So just a few weeks ago we packed up our apartment, bought our tickets, and decided to just play this summer by ear on St. Thomas. Because if you can't do this kind of thing when you're in your twenties, when can you? We're both really excited to devote some time to creative projects and get tan for the first time in two years! :)

It still feels a little surreal. Like we died and went to heaven. Except without the dying. Photos of our cottage and trip so far can be found on instagram! (The photo above is the view from our porch!) Hope your summer has been warm and pretty so far, friend.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

I should start by saying that a few months back Shuggie starting doing this really absurd thing when he wants me to play/pay attention to him. And the first time it happened, I assumed it was an accident and dismissed it as hilarious. But then he did it again a few weeks later. I'll tell him I'm done playing with him, turn around to let him know the fun is over, and then he'll push me. Not a joke.

He'll stand on his back legs, lift his front legs up, and then push me. Tyler died laughing the first time he was around to witness it. And it probably wouldn't be funny if we owned an Alaskan Malamute, but Shuggie will never be more than 30 pounds, so we let it slide.

Puppy parenting fail.

Fail because yesterday on the beach Shuggie pushed a kid (about the age of ten) on the beach. Pushed him right into the ocean. Luckily, the kid (fully clothed) thought it was absolutely hilarious, so this story has a happy ending. In fact a whole crowd gathered--this kid's parents included--to laugh and take pictures of Shuggie pushing him over and over, but REALLY. Having a dog that pushes can't be normal. And I know that because when I youtubed "boston terrier pushes person" NOTHING came up. Which tells me two things, for sure. One, Shuggie is ridiculous. And two, it's time for me to make a Youtube video.